ATEACHER sacked after allegedly threatening a pupil with a
craft-knife has lost his claim for racial discrimination against the
education authority.

Damieon Herry - also accused of pulling a student's blazer and
swearing - said he'd been victimised and harassed at Dudley's
Hillcrest School and Community College because of his Caribbean
background.

He also made a legal claim for disability discrimination against
Dudley Council after complaining he was struck with a brick by white
youths while travelling on a bus in Lower Gornal.

After several hearings over 14 months, Mr Herry has now lost all
his legal claims. At a Birmingham Employment Tribunal, judge David
Dimbylow decided the 40-year-old was not disabled and that the other
legal claims were not "well founded".

Mr Herry, from Broadway Dudley, was alleged to have threatened the
pupil in front of 30 students. He was suspended for four months and
dismissed in May this year. He had been a full-time teacher since 2008.

Mr Herry, who also worked at Lower Gornal Youth Centre, said he was
regarded at the school as a "culture shock" and given
"unwarranted attention" because of his teaching style and
personality.

"I was the only black Caribbean male teacher in the school and
the subject of false allegations and unfavourable treatment," he
said.

Mr Herry complained one pupil had called him an insulting six
letter name.

Another used a mock Caribbean accent to cause trouble, he
complained.

He alleged he alone was monitored through a diary of his
activities. "It was all racially motivated," he said.

The council maintained Mr Herry had failed to provide sick notes
while suffering from stress and depression and had not worked since
2011.

Mr Herry denied all the allegations and complained he had been
victimised, harassed and bullied by staff and pupils.

CAPTION(S):

Hillcrest School, Dudley, where Damieon Herry worked

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